The Joe Murphy Column
Last week I stated in my article that Kevin had timed in 10 birds from the SNRPC Billericay race and with the provision result now out Kevin won 40th ; 53rd; 54th; 95th ; 129th; 132nd ;153rd; 183rd 260th & 302nd open so needless to say we are all over the moon at his performances. As the readers will know Kevin races the birds and I breed them, so please indulge me detailing the breeding of his winners.
His winner of 40th open SNRPC Billericay was a 3 year old chequer hen known as the ‘Inbred Hen’. As a youngster the ‘Inbred Hen’ had 2 races to Ridsdale and as a yearling she had 5 races out to Leicester. Last year she won 2nd club from an entry of 128 birds 5th east section in the federation flying 128 miles. She then won 2nd club 2nd east section from Newark with 427 birds competing and she was then raced to Reims a distance of 578 miles. This year she won 7th club 7th east section Ripon; 6th club 6th east section from Wakefield; then 10th club Newark with 92 birds competing. She then went to the Billericay race. Sire of the ‘Inbred Hen’ was known as ‘Sebastian’ his sister won 150th open SNFC Clermont in 2015 and then 7th open SNFC Roye in 2016 for the McEwen family. They were both bred from ‘TMAC’ when paired to his own sister. Dam of the ‘Inbred Hen’ was named ‘Marlene’ her sire won 5th & 36th open he was bred from a full brother to the McEwen’s 1st open SNFC Tours winner ‘Petite Rose’ when mated to a sister to ‘Bankton Belle’ winner of 1st open SNFC Newbury for Brian Cunningham. Dam of ‘Marlene’ won 7th & 150th open SNFC and was a half-sister to ‘TMAC’. Who was bred and raced by our friends Tom, Marlene and their son Scott McEwen of Elphinstone. ‘TMAC’ was a chequer cock who won 4 times in the SNFC and won a SNFC Silver Award in the SNFC; His performances are as follows; he won 21st section B 85th open Clermont flying 506mls; he then won 3rd section B 5th open Alencon flying 533 miles; 17th section B 82nd open Clermont and 13th section B 47th open Alencon: unfortunately he was lost going for his Gold Award. Kevin also won 53rd; 54th; 95th ; 129th; 132nd ;153rd; 183rd 260th & 302nd open so needless to say we are all over the moon at his performances.
The next week from the SNFC race from Maidstone flown on the 24th July the convoy were liberated at 06-30 hours into a light west wind. He won 1st club with a yearling hen on roundabout flying 392 miles and recording a velocity of 1240. She also won 2nd federation 13th section C 29th open from a convoy of 2894 birds. She is bred by yours truly from a line of proven national and international winners; her sire was purchased direct from Mark Gilbert of Southfield Lofts after our visit to his home. We obviously named him ‘Mark’ and he contains the very best of Mark Gilbert’s international winning family. His sire is a son of the ‘New Laureaat’ winner of the ‘Golden Wing’ winner 3 times from Barcelona; winner of 1st National 10685 birds; 1st International 25382birds; 323 national 11950 birds; 1st Provincial 1550 birds, 8th national 1228 birds & 41st international 26650 birds. Dam of ‘Mark’ is a direct daughter of Euro Diamond the Best EVER Long Distance Pigeon. He was sold for 170,000 euros at 9 years of age. The hen Euro Diamond was paired to a daughter of ‘Super Mario’ of George Carteus a winner of 2nd 29th & 30th from Perpignan. Mother of Bordeaux the 1st ACE pigeon in 2004; he was a winner of 8th 19th 36th 57th 100th 173rd & 203 National. Her mother was from PAU 4 ACE pigeon winner of 2nd 4th 57th 70th 224th 451st & 781 National Pau. As a matter of interest to readers the sister to ‘Mark’ flying for Mark Gilbert won 1st section 8th open BICC 2016 Perpignan 243birds (12.698bs) International; 23rd open St Vincent both as yearling. In 2017 she won 37th open Pau and 4th section 9th open BICC Marseille flying 653 miles for Mark Gilbert.
Dam of Kevin’s 29th open SNFC winner is ‘Marie’ a direct daughter of ‘Robbie’s Boy’, winner of 1st open SNFC Falaise for Gilmour Brothers of Leven, when paired to a daughter of Dennis Dall’s famous hen ‘Rebecca 2’, she was a 7 x winner from France winning a SNFC Gold Award in 2003. Not only was ‘Robbie’s Boy’ an excellent racer winning 1st & 31st open SNFC Falaise flying 522 miles, he has left a legacy of winners – for example he is sire of 6966 a 4 times SNFC winner; He was sire of ‘4304’ winner of 102nd open Leicester in 2013; Sire of 2nd section C 26th open Buckingham in 2014. Sire of 22nd section C 102nd open SNFC Maidstone and 26th section C 64th open Clermont SNFC 2015. He is G/Sire of 1st open SNFC Roye in 2016 for Jocky Scott of Kennoway. G/Sire of 4th -66th - 86th - 135th open Alencon flying distance 553 to 573 miles; G/Sire of 4th -18th - 26th open Clermont ALSO 41st open Ancenis a distance of 635 miles 2016. G/Sire of 18th open SNFC Ypres 454 miles; G/Sire of 1st section 13th open Leicester 288 miles and is also G/Sire of 26th open Falaise winner in 2017 ALL SNFC RACES. ‘Robbie’s Boy’ is also the Grand Sire of ‘The Murphy Hen’ bred by Joe & Kevin Murphy and raced by Rob Glover of Earl Shilton. In 2015 she won 31st section 121st open MNFC Bordeaux 531 miles 1727birds; 1st section 17th open MNFC 2 Bird. 32nd open Agen BICC and 18th open BBC Bordeaux. In 2016 she won; 5th section 61st MNFC Bordeaux 1496 birds; 3rd section 11th open MNFC 2 Bird; 2nd Leicester Continental Club, 2nd Leicester Fed & 4th Warwickshire Federation, 2nd section 6th open Long Distance ACE Awards MNFC. 9th Leicester Continental Club also 12th section 53rd open MNFC Ancenis 3807 birds. 3rd Leicester Continental Club; 5th Leicester Fed & 2nd Warwickshire 2 Bird Club 20th Warwickshire Fed 39th section 251st open MNFC Ancenis 2017 4286 birds: 2017 she won; 1st section 2nd open MNFC Pointers 2017 948 birds. 1st section 1st open MNFC 2 bird; 1st Leicester Continental Club; 1st Warwickshire Federation, 2nd SC section 6th open Long Distance Ace Award MNFC 2017. A good pigeon well looked after and raced by my good friend Rob Glover of Earl Shilton.
Kevin Murphy see text
From this same Maidstone race my old club mate of mine from Kennoway Bob Farmer who now lives in Kirkcaldy timed in 2 birds the first won 166th open for him and his 2nd bird was a dark chequer cock I bred for him to win 76th section C 229th open. His sire was bred by Gareth Rankin of Larkhall and bred a 15th section C (570bs) 25th open SNFC Ypres competing against 2541 birds flying 455 miles in 2018 for us. He was a direct son of Gareth’s famous 'Marcia' a SNFC Silver Award winner she won 10th section E 78th open SNFC Newbury flying 320 miles; 19th section E and 23rd section E 74th open and 121st open SNFC Alencon 533 miles, 5th section E and 6th section E 12th and 129th open SNFC Clermont flying 516 miles. Dam of Bob’s dark chequer winner was bred by my dear friend Billy Bilsland of Ayton, she was direct from ‘Welltower Roman’ winner of the SHU Dewar Trophy Winner for BEST BIRD IN SCOTLAND in 2015. He won in 2013- 63rd section B 152nd open SNFC Maidstone 339 miles. In 2014 he won 130th open SNFC Alencon 520 miles, then in 2015 he won 3rd section B 12th open SNFC Alencon and 32nd section B 87th open SNFC Clermont flying 487miles.He was also a SNFC Silver Award winner he was unfortunately lost at Reims in 2016 reported in Germany and Billy had him returned back to his home in Ayton and he was put into the stock loft. Welltower Roman was mated to ‘Hightower Greer’ winner of 1st open SNFC Portsmouth a distance of 348 miles in 2015 competing against 588 members who entered 4767 birds recording a velocity of 1332 she won the race by 24 yards; Billy took the first 6 open places in the race. The dam of ‘Greer’ was a full sister to his 1st open SNFC Buckingham winner.
Billy Bilsland - See Text
Hazebrouck Race
This same weekend Kevin sent 5 birds to Hazebrouck with the SNRPC and the convoy of 475 birds were liberated at 06-30 into a light west wind. The winner is Danny Henderson of Dundee who is having a good season as I have reported in my weekly column. My dear old friend Billy Bilsland of Ayton is 2nd & 3rd open with a pair of yearlings. I was speaking to John Barlow during the week and he was telling me that he was going down to Billy’s for the race so hope he enjoyed his day. Back to Kevin he timed in a 2 year old blue bar hen that had 2 races to Tow Law as a baby and as a yearling she had 7 races to Newark. The distance from Hazebrouck to Arbroath is 454 miles and she won 15th section 60th open. Her sire is a son of ‘Robbie’s Boy’ (I took a youngster from our 4th open SNFC Alencon 573 miles winner to Ian Gilmour and as I was about to leave he took me down to his loft and said ‘NO ONE BUT you Joe Murphy would get this chance and he gave me a youngster from Robbie’s Boy (that we named Benedict) when he was mated to a daughter of 6966 (son of Robbie’s Boy) when he was mated to a the ‘Sister to Mary’ Mary won 11 times from France for Jock King of Kirkcaldy. In her pedigree is ‘Lorna’ winner of 1st open SNFC Falaise; she is also a niece to a 1st open SNRPC Saintes. A granddaughter of ‘Survivor’ for Jock Trail winner of 2nd & 50th open SNFC Nantes 620 miles; a GGG Daughter of ‘Spark’ winner of 1st open SNFC Niort; GGG Daughter of ‘My Little Lady’ winner of 4th open SNFC Rennes; GGG Daughter of ‘Champion Moneymaker’. As a matter of interest Benedict his ½ sister is dam of 1st open SNFC Roye in 2016 for Jocky Scott of Kennoway. Benedict is sire to 440th open SNFC Littlehampton in 2016 from an entry of 4400 birds. He is also the sire of last bird on SNFC Roye race in 2019 flying 445 miles to win 27th section C 76th open for Kevin. Sorry I digress, back to the dam of Kevin’s Hazebrouck 60th open hen, she is a sister to ‘Kingdom Spirit’, a 10 times winner from France in the SNFC for George and Brian Hunter. She was also Scotland’s Dewar Trophy winner Bird of Year and also Runner Up. She is also a Double Gold and Silver Award winner in SNFC. Only 2 bird in history to of the SNFC have achieved this honour. ‘Spirit’s Sister’ is also dam of 27th C 76th open SNFC Roye 455mls 935 birds timed on day at 22-44pm 2019 for Kevin.
As readers of my column you all know I love writing about good quality pigeons and I have always believed that their breeding will come to the fore, my role in our partnership is trying to blend good quality stock to enable Kevin to race them.
Maidstone Fed Result
Up to going to sending this report away I have not received information on the winning birds from federation secretary Kenny Droog; so I will just give the result. Topping the federation with 107 birds at the race is W Dorward of Gourdon club. With Kevin J Murphy of Arbroath in 2nd place, his club mates Charlie & Glen Cameron are 3rd 4th 7th 15th & 18th open. Davie Glen of Forfar is 5th & 10th with D & D Hay of Gourdon club winning 6th 13th 17th & 19th open. Kenny Droog & son of the Forfar club are 8th & 11th with J McCafferty of the same club winning 9th & 16th open, with past SNFC winner Ian Scott of Forfar winning 12th place. Club mate David J Liddle wins 14th open and W Nicol of the same club makes up the top 20 places.
East Section is won by D & D Hay of Gourdon who are also 2nd 3rd 5th to 9th with Charlie & Glen Cameron of Arbroath winning the other 2 places left which are 4th & 10th section.
Club Winners; Forfar 82 bird’s winner D Glen; Gourdon 10 bird’s winners W Dorward; Arbroath 15 bird’s winner K J Murphy.
Arbroath RPC
2 members sent 15 birds with the SNFC convoy; these were liberated at 06-30 hours into a light west wind. 1st 6th & 8th is Kevin J Murphy with his winner a yearling hen on roundabout flying 392 miles and recording a velocity of 1240.
Charlie & Glen Cameron won 2nd club 3rd federation from Maidstone with a 4 year old hen who the previous week was 36th open SNRPC Billericay, and this week she won 53rd open SNFC Maidstone. This hen is a granddaughter of the ‘Kanon’ of Danny Van Dyck and ‘Jos’ a winner of 1st and 2nd section G SNFC. Their 3rd club 4th federation wining 61st open SNFC Maidstone is a yearling cock who was 3rd combine Peterborough the week previous. This yearling blue is bred from a pair from the Dutch loft of Stultjens-VanDongen.
Angus Federation Young Bird Race
For the first young bird race of the season the convoy of 756 birds were liberated at Newtongrange on the 26th July at 08:00 hours; The partnership of Leggate & Greig of Forfar win 1st 4th 6th & 7th; Macaulay, Ferguson & Curran win 2nd & 3rd places with club mate Eric Galloway winning 5th 9th & 10th. Ian Scott also from Forfar wins 8th 11th 13th to 16th federation secretary Kenny Droog & son win 12th place with D & D Hay of Gourdon winning 17th & 19th open and the final placings of 18th & 20th are won by race controller Davie Glen of Forfar.
East Section
D & D Hay from Gourdon club win 1st 2nd 3rd 5th 6th 7th 8th & 9th section with Chic & Ann Carrie of Arbroath winning 4th place, while W Dorward of Gourdon club winning 10th section.
Club Winners are as follows; Forfar 418 birds winners are Leggate & Greig velocity 1488.33; Arbroath club 205 birds; winners are Chic & Anne Carrie velocity 1371.6; Gourdon 75 birds winners are D & D Hay velocity 1426.36; Montrose 58 birds winners are M Wallace & son 1201.62
Arbroath Racing Pigeon Club
From the Newtongrange young bird race flown on the 26th July the convoy were liberated at 08:00 hours with 7 members sending 205 birds into a strong south west wind. Chic and Ann Carrie win 1st 3rd 4th 5th places with Graham McKenzie winning 2nd place. Les McKay is 6th with Kevin J Murphy in 7th spot. Charlie & Glen Cameron are 8th to 11th with R Nowosad is 12th with A & A Shepherd taking the final position.
Central Federation
Broxburn & Uphall Pigeon Club
News from Bernie Britton who wrote, ‘Hi Joe, our federation open race from Maidstone with the SNFC was as follows; 1st club is John McNeill with a blue bar pied hen sitting 9 days she is a gift from his good friend the late George Anderson of Scone winning 8th section, 23rd open SNFC plus 5th open federation. John is also 2nd club with a yearling blue chequer hen on roundabout she us a Lambrecht from his good mealy cock who was 1st open Billericay Central Scotland 3 Bird club he also won the Combine Yearling Derby from the SNFC Maidstone race in 2019. John was also 6th 16th 30th & 35th open from the federation Maidstone. 3rd club 12th open is Gorgon MacKenzie flying a Gabby hen from the racing loft who won 2nd Yearling Derby and she has also topped the federation. For our first young bird race from Stobs Camp the convoy were liberated at 08-00 hours into a south wind. Taking the 1st x 3 in the club is John McNeil with a dark chequer cock flown natural he is a Lambrecht, his sire was 1st open SCC Yearling Derby while his dam won 1st section 22nd open young bird national. The 2nd club winner is a blue chequer hen on darkness bred from the stock loft out of ‘Sanny’s Memory’. John’s 3rd bird is a blue bar cock flown on darkness he is a Lambrecht out of Ian Stafford stock birds a full sister won 1st section 22nd open young bird national. Joe I hope you can understand this week’s notes I spoke to Martyn Brown about his ‘GusAzzi’ winner of 1st fed 3rd section D 15th open Maidstone Bernie is going to do a write up on him soon. I have added a photo of this cock who last year won 1st section D 16th open from the SNFC Maidstone race, he was bred by Angus Orr & son from Brightons.
GusAzzi see text - Broxburn report.
East of Scotland Federation
News from Tom McEwen who wrote, ‘Hi Joe, from our federation race from Billericay flown on the 26th of July the convoy were liberated at 06-30 hours into a west to west wind. Winning 1st & 2nd open thus making it a great race for Davie Blair of Prestonpans club, the open winner is a yearling club white flight cock both parents bred by Willie Pryde & son of Gorebridge. The open winner also wins the yearling derby. The 2nd open is a blue yearling cock also bred by the Pryde partnership. In 3rd open making it a great end to the season for Bobby Dickson also from Prestonpans club he timed a 2 year old mealy cock, he has previously won 7th & 11th federation this season, he was also Bobby’s 1st bird x 4 times in 5 races this season. John Bird of Prestonpans completes another great season with yet another top ten treble finishing 4th 6th & 8th open. Graham Wardhaugh of Dirleton is also well to the fore once again winning 5th open. Tom & Scott McEwen of Elphinstone finish with a nice top tem double winning 7th & 10th open; another Elphinstone loft competes the top ten with Richard & Jamie Combe winning 9th open position.
Prestonpans Homing Society
1st place goes to Davie Blair with a yearling blue white flight cock both parents bred by Willie & John Pryde down from Stuart Lapinski national winner x with a daughter of the Miller ‘Kuwait’ pair. Davie’s 2nd pigeon is yearling blue chequer cock again both parents from the Pryde & son partnership of Gorebridge. Bloodlines are from Macaloney ‘Dream Pair’ x with a Frans Zwols hen. 3rd club is Bobby Dickson with a 2 year old mealy cock; his sire was purchased at Blackpool Show and is from Lambrecht bloodlines while his dam is a Herman Ceusters from Premier Stud. This mealy cock was his first bird 4 times in 5 races this season. Joe please give our congratulations to Kevin (and of course you) on a fantastic national season with some outstanding results, you Tom’.
Fife Federation
The convoy of 604 birds were liberated at 06-30 hours with the SNFC convoy of 2894 birds at Maidstone for the 350 mile race. Brian Chalmers of Kennoway had an outstanding race winning 16 x open positions with is first 2 birds winning 1st & 3rd open. However it was in the SNFC race that Brian achieved his ‘Dream’ by winning 1st open Scottish National, He won 17 prizes from his entry of 38 birds and I will highlight these rather than the federation positions; 1st 9th 20th 25th 36th 46th 47th 49th 57th 58th 64th 116th 145th 158th 210th 217th 256th open from a convoy of 2894 birds, truly outstanding and our congratulations go to Brian. I have mentioned before that Brian’s dad Tam was a club mate of mine when we raced in Kennoway club and he would be so proud of his son’s achievement. It is funny that Jimmy Hamilton won 1st open SNFC Nantes in 1966, then John Honeyman & son won Rennes in 1992 the same year Kevin and I won Sartilly 2 in Kirkcaldy, Then you have Jocky Scott winning Roye in 2016. Austin Whittaker of Methilhaven just about pulled off a double as he won 1st open Ypres in 2010, however he is 2nd open from Maidstone with J Hynd & son of Crossgates winning 1st 2nd & 4th west section 4th 6th & 14th fed 11th 16th & 45th national. Jim & Gary Peggie of Methilhaven club are 4th east section 5th open & 12th national. Jimmy Mackie of Leven club wins 5th & 7th east section 7th & 9th fed 17th & 21st national. Bob Wilson of Glenrothes & Leslie wins 3rd west section 11th federation 30th national; congratulations to the above on achieving such wonderful results and to the other Fife federation members who also achieved national diplomas from Maidstone. The 2 bird average in the federation was won by Brian Chalmers with the runners up being J Hynd & Son.
Brian Chalmers winner of 1st open Maidstone see text
Pentlandhills Federation
News from Andy Miller who wrote ‘Hi Joe, from the final old bird race of the season from Billericay open flown on Sunday 26th July a distance of 325 to 338 miles for the members. 60 members sent 671 birds the convoy were liberated at 06-30 into a west to south west wind this turned out to be good workings fly for the birds, with decent returns. Winning the open is the consistent loft of Freddie Robertson from Niddrie, who flies in Danderhall Club. He timed his 2 year old widowhood hen, a Heremans Ceusters cross who is a previous winner in the top 10 in the federation a couple times last season. She lifts the nomination and recorded a velocity of 1352 ypm and £593 into the bargain. Stewart Gilchrist of Edinburgh Premier takes the next 2 places with his first bird on a velocity of 1343 ypm he also wins 6th 14th open. Willie Kinnear & son of Danderhall win 4th 11th 12th & 20th open with club mate A W Robertson winning 5th open. Press Officer Andy Miller of Sighthill wins 7th & 13th open. Ronnie S Bremner of Sighthill club wins 8th & 19th open. Helen Aitken & sons of Danderhall are 9th open with J Pryde of Arniston club in 10th place. M Bennett of Danderhall wins 15th spot with W Pryde & son of Arniston are 16th & 17th with the Woodburn partnership winning 18th open. Young bird nominations incorporating birds purchased at presentation evening Entries for the nominations with the appropriate fee required by Friday 31st July 2020; 50% of total income will be paid out over the 7 young bird races. Entries now taken for the young bird midweek race from Peterborough: required by Friday 7th August 2020.
North of Scotland Federation
News from George Duthie with the result of the Brechin Young Birds flown on 26/07/2020 with 34 members sending 1168 birds East Section 16 members sent 574 birds and West Section 18 members sent 594 birds. The convoy were liberated in a light west to south west wind. G Findlay of Peterhead & District club took the first 3 in the east section and open. With his club mate R H Whyte taking the next 3 places in section and open, he is followed by another Peterhead fancier S Glew who took the next 3 places in the section and open. The Fulton & Ritchie loft 2 of Devern Valley took the first 2 places plus 13th & 14th in the west section and also won 10th 11th 28th & 29th open. G Ritchie of Peterhead & District wins 10th 11th 12th east section 12th 13th & 15th open. N Raymond of Devern Valley wins 3rd 4th west section 14th & 16th open. C & M Williams of Peterhead & District win 13th & 14th & 15th east section 17th 20th & 26th open places. A Milne of Devern Valley wins 5th west section 18th open with his club mates P Sherman wining 6th west section 19th open; J Abel wins 7th 8th & 9th west section 21st 22nd & 23rd open. R Hay & Family of the same club win 10th 11th & 12th west section and are 24th 25th & 27th open and making up the top 30 is G Wilson of Devern Valley who is also wins 15th west section.
Clubs First Bird
Peterhead & District winner is G Findlay velocity 1661.275
Devern Valley winner is Fulton & Ritchie Loft 2 velocity 1544.922
Fraserburgh & District winner is C McRae velocity 1414.906
Keith winner is A Cruickshank velocity 1381.233
Inverurie winners is R McKenzie velocity 1249.695
Buckie & District winner is R Bain velocity 1135.214
Well done to G Findlay on topping the federation and to Fulton & Ritchie on winning the west section. George Duthie
Joe’s Joke
An Amish husband, wife and son travel to the city on vacation. They visit a shopping mall and while the mother is shopping, the father and son are standing in awe in front of an elevator (having no idea what it is). As they watch, an elderly lady walks into the strange silver doors and the doors close. The father and son watch as the numbers go up, and then back down. When the doors open, a beautiful young woman walks out. The father leans over and whispers to the son, "Son, go get your mother!"
Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or you can also view online editions on: www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk www.pigeon-chat.co.uk -
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